Rags-to-riches Classmate The Captain Of Their Reunion

August 17, 1987|By United Press International

MIAMI — Members of the Punxsutawney High School class of 1952 are celebrating their 35th reunion on a cruise ship to the Bahamas with expenses paid by a classmate who threw the lavish party ''to have a good time.''

Graduates of the Pennsylvania high school, with their spouses and friends, boarded a liner Friday for the three-day cruise to the Bahamas as guests of the shy, quiet former fellow student who fell on hard times, robbed a bank and eventually became a millionaire.

Delbert Dunmire, 53, of Kansas City, Mo., said he wanted to do something special for his high school's 35th reunion and figured the planned two-day picnic in the town of 8,000 northeast of Pittsburgh wasn't grand enough.

So the businessman invited the entire class of about 250, their husbands and wives along with his friends and employees, to join him. Nearly 400 people made the trip at his expense.

''It's just like a dream come true,'' said classmate Ruth Ball.

A band played as the classmates walked from their chartered buses and onto the Carnivale, one of several ships run by Carnival Cruise Lines Inc. of Miami. The cruise, which ends today, also carries other passengers.

But the smiling, robust man with the silver beard and bright yellow shirt, pants and shoes hardly seemed like the person they described as he talked and joked easily with reporters and old friends that surrounded him.

''Why did I do this? To have a good time,'' Dunmire said.

Dunmire, owner of Growth Industries Inc. of Grandview, Mo., spent some time as an Air Force pilot in the 1950s, but began to gamble after his discharge. He robbed a Kansas bank of $2,461 to pay off his debts in 1958. He was caught 20 minutes later and spent some time in jail.

Today, he is known for his philanthropy in the Kansas City area. Dunmire is spending between $300,000 and $500,000 for the trip.